Heart, Mind, and Soul
by Lullaby121
Summary: Prequel...almost to The Light Within & Memories Within the Flames & the stories in that series that are to come Elspeth is remembering some of the previous versions of the loops that have occurred and reflecting on the impact of the decisions characters made during those loops.


**If you have not read Memories Within the Flames then this might not make a lot of sense so I suggest you do so before reading this. Also the** ** _Italic_ _paragraphs_ are narrations done from Elspeth's point of view.**

* * *

Jace glanced around in dull curiosity. He quickly noticed a servant walking past. He hurried up to them, "Hey. I'm a guest here and I was wondering if you had a library."

"Of course," the servant didn't even question him, "It's this way." He led Jace to the library.

"Thank you," Jace nodded. He wandered around until the servant left. The castle wasn't all that impressive. He had definitely seen better but he also happened to serve an elder dragon. His cold, emotionless eyes studied the room intently. He picked a book and made his way to the throne room. From subtley looking into the servant's mind he had gathered a detailed map of the entire castle. The kings of this particular world would be gathering in half an hour. He could easily make it to the room before then. The throne room would be empty until all the foreign kings arrived. Basically his job here was to collect as much information on a particular artifact on this world and to leave corpses for Lilianna to salvage later on, when Ugin's forces inevitably showed up to enact "righteous justice". They would also inevitably cause the deaths of thousands more people but Jace didn't care. Lilianna used the dead so the more people that died in the conflict the more servants she had. It didn't involve him at all. From what he had managed to gather, the strength and intelligence of a revived corpse was determined by their relative power in life.

Jace sat on the throne and read the book while he waited. It was an artificer's compendium, meaining it would have very detailed descriptions of every artifact known to this world. By the time the kings had shown up he had memorized the entire thing and was just looking at it to continue the act.

"It's about time you showed up," Jace chided.

"What are you doing here?" the king that commanded the castle snarled, "You aren't a king."

"Far from it actually," Jace didn't bother looking up at them. His enhanced hearing caught the grating of metal on metal, leather or wood as many kings of the kings present drew their swords. Many others put their hands on their swords. He could taste their supressed fear at this outsider that didn't even flinch at the swords in their hands.

"Then what are you doing here?" one hissed commandingly, "Leave."

The door slammed shut behind them.

Jace didn't spare them a glance, "I can't now. The door's closed."

"It won't open," one king growled as he fought with the doorknob.

Jace heard the sides of the door scraping against the doorjam as the king pulled on it. He finally looked at them. He could see every hole in their ceremonial armor and see every individual string sown into their extravagent clothing. He held the book out to his right.

"That's the artificer's compendium! What are you doing here?"

"I wonder," Jace spoke slowly so they could hear and understand every word, "what would happen should the kings of this world suddenly turn up dead." He slammed the book shut, causing every one in the room except him to jump.

"You wouldn't dare! We have the power to-" the king's words ended in a chocked gurgle and he collapsed.

Jace sat back on the throne, "Try me."

The others stared at him in wide eyes shock, "A mage. There's no other way."

"Good job for noticing," Jace purred in mock approval. He climbed off the throne and walked past them towards the door, "Good night." As he spoke every king in the room choked and collapsed.

 _To manipulate time is to change the course of people's lives. It never comes without a price. In a loop repeated uncountable times ignorance is bliss. To live with the burden of memory but be unable to act is not something most can do. Though the mind may forget the heart and soul are not so easily cleared. A single act can leave a mark on someone's heart for eternity. There's still hope as our bonds endure time. Through the first few loops the multiverse was a desolate place, ravaged by war. Each side was evenly matched. Every move the light took the darkness copied and vice versa. Both sides had pawns and power houses. The death toll was not something anyone ever took into consideration. It was so high that one more death didn't even matter. The dragons that we served and fought for fought each other one on one. However neither ever won so the loop was repeated. Throughout the loops I have watched friends become enemies and enemies become friends. The future is bright though we may sleep through eternity._

Gideon watched flames explode in front of them. Their enemies had arrived. He had no idea how many people had been killed in their war but he knew that they did what they could to prevent collateral damage. They purposefully drew the enemy to desolate worlds that had already been destroyed in their many conflicts for large battles like this. He saw silhouettes walking through the flames. A necromancer, her long black hair blowing in the wind and an artificer. His metallic, inhuman arm glowed a sickly pink color and he clicked the fingers of that arm together. They didn't matter to Gideon. He knew that two of his allies already had their sights set on those two. The one he wanted was the pyromancer. Her red hair was in flames on her head and her eyes glowed. She appeared from the flames confidently, sure of her victory. Her hands were clasped behind her back and she was almost skipping. A psychotic gleam lit her eyes and she smirked. Close behind her was the telepath. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head was cocked to the side, "How far do you really think compassion can get you?" The cloak he normally wore to conceal his identity was missing. His blue eyes glowed with an inner light and his black hair moved gently in the wind that surrounded him from his magic.

"It's gotten us this far," Gideon snapped.

"True," Jace nodded. His eyes were cold. It was obvious to Gideon that he didn't care who made it out of this alive as long as he was one of them, "But how much farther do you think it can take you?"

"Compassion's bonds are strong and not to be underestimated," Elspeth warned darkly. A swarm of armed and armored humans appeared in front of Gideon and angels flew overhead.

Legions of the dead shambled towards them and harshly metallic artifact creatures surged to meet the angels in the air.

 _Those fights left us all weak. By the time the battle was over or the loop was started anew the planeswalkers on both sides could barely stand. Jace and Chandra were not our allies at first. Chandra allowed her power to control her in every way. Jace was an icy cold sociopath. We definitely did not see eye to eye the first many loops. I've seen so many that they all blur together and I can no longer tell where one ended and another began. There wasn't a time when I didn't regret allowing them to be pushed that far. Chandra knew that she was nothing but labels to everyone she met so she let those labels become her and embraced the darker side of her power. Jace wasn't always a sociopath but was a telepath born on a world where telepaths showed no emotion or they were killed. That combined with a mother that spent her time wishing he was something other than what he was led him towards that path. Meeting Tezzeret and Lilianna pushed him too far._

"Why have you let yourself become a monster?" Gideon hissed.

Chandra laughed, "Cause it's fun." She wrapped herself in flames that took the shape of a phoenix, "When you have this much destructive power there's no way you won't be labeled a monster, might as well do what you do best in that case." Her eyes glittered with sparks and her hair was completely alight.

"But to fight for that dragon!" Gideon had to yell to be heard over the roaring of her flames.

 _Chandra, watch out. He'll go for a shield bash once he's done talking with you._

 _Got it._ Chandra glared at Gideon, "Don't tell me your dragon's any different. They're both feeding their egos and using us to do it. At least my dragon doesn't care what I do and who gets caught in my flames. I don't see why I should apologize for being a 'monster' when that's just what I am. I'm only a monster cause you can't handle it."

Gideon hissed softly through gritted teeth, "Chandra you don't have to be this monster that you've let yourself become."

Chandra laughed coldly, "It's what I've always been Gideon. Don't get in my way." She ducked under Gideon's shield and flipped over his sural's sharp tails. Gideon felt his armor heat to insane temperatures as the intensity of the flames increased exponentially. He felt sweat run down the side of his face. Elspeth wasn't faring much better against the telepath. He knew Ugin would repeat the loop before much longer. Almost everyone's memories of these events would be wiped including his but then maybe he could keep Chandra from becoming the psychopath she was at the moment. She was only interested in herself and power at the moment but Gideon believed there was good in her. He had seen it when she had taken the blame for something someone she cared for had done.

Jace dodged Elspeth's sword, "You know you don't stand a chance." His voice was icy calm and held little to no emotion, "When the dragon repeats the loop, as he inevitably will, all of this will be undone. Our paths cannot be changed, Angel."

"That is not true," Elspeth insisted. She wrapped him in a golden light that quickly dissipated as he countered it, "The bonds made in every loop survive no matter how many times the loop is repeated."

"Then our paths will not change," Jace sighed. Impatience colored his voice, "If our bonds last then our connections will remain the same and the lack of connection will remain. There's only one person here that matters to me. The rest of you can rot for all I care."

"Connections change," Elspeth slashed at him again.

"Every move you make," Jace shook his head, "is like a symphony inside my head. I know exactly how you will act and where you will strike. You can't beat that."

"It's not just that, Jace." Elspeth slashed at him again, "You're moving my blade to make it miss so you barely have to dodge it. I know you're not just a telepath."

A high pitched scream tore through the battlefield. Jace turned in surprise. Elspeth glanced in Gideon's direction. He had successfully caught Chandra in his sural. All the flames around them died as she was cut off from mana. Jace disappeared from Elspeth's sight. She let him go. _If she's the only connection he has I will not get in his way. That means that if we befriend her we befriend him and that is all we need._ She turned and white wings spread from her back. She lifted into the air and landed beside a vampire. He was cutting through zombies like they were paper, easily cutting them down.

"The loop needs to be repeated. I have an idea that will tip the scale in our favor," Elspeth told him.

"What idea?" He grunted as he cut through the thick half rotten flesh of a giant.

"We need to reach the pyromancer before Bolas does," Elspeth said simply. She shot a beam of light that cut easily through the zombies surrounding them.

"Even so, we'll need a place for her to stay and yet allow her to be free at the same time," the vampire took down a zombie coming at Elspeth from behind.

"What about those assassins you teamed up with before the Cataclysm?" Elspeth asked.

"They're all long since missing or dead," the vampire shrugged.

"You can still gather like minded people. There must be something left," Elspeth urged.

He nodded, "It will still take multiple loops to create the required emotional attachments." He disappeared.

 _They were partners back then and have always had a slightly rocky, distant, yet close relationship ever since. I never expected her to bring the lightning mage in. I didn't know him until the previous loop. I didn't expect him to connect with us so quickly also, even lying to a dragon's face so we weren't discovered. Of course this time, the pyromancer's older brother has spread our story throughout the multiverse. I'm glad that the large scale battles have all but faded into a simple back and forth. When the forces were more evenly matched our clashes were violent enough to tear worlds apart._ _The fact that the loops even exist has been long since forgotten by those involved in this conflict. That makes getting along difficult in the beginning but it makes the clashes more of an underground affair. That doesn't stop us from clashing severely on isolated worlds that were almost void of life. It kept worlds like Ravnica from being targeted by large scale attacks._

Jace took a wary step back as the man stepped closer. His inhuman arm reflected the moonlight and glowed a frightening unnatural pink.

"Hello telepath," the young woman with black hair and porcelain skin kneeled down in front of him, "What's your name?" Her tone was gentle and she gave her companion a hard look, "You're scaring him. Shut that thing off."

The man rolled his eyes, "Why should I? A little intimidation can go a long way."

Her eyes narrowed and a purple, pink light illuminated them from within, "There's no need for intimidation. He just arrived here." She turned to look at him, "This was your first planeswalk?"

Jace stared at her. Her face was gentle and held none of the smug arrogance that her companion's did. He nodded uneasily, "Uh, yeah."

"Oh look. It talks."

She glared at him, "Silence, Tezzeret." She turned back to Jace and helped him to his feet, getting to her own in the process, "There. Come with us. I at least will help you learn to control that special ability of yours. Unfortunately I don't know any other telepaths so you'll have to expand those abilities on your own."

"How'd you know I was a telepath?" Jace asked curiously.

"We have an ally that can detect planeswalkers and their abilities," she explained, "I'm Lilianna."

"Jace," Jace nodded. He glanced warily at her companion.

"He's Tezzeret and he's not terrible," Lilianna gave him a harsh look, "He's just not great either."

"I'm better than you could dream of being, necromancer."

Lilianna shot a beam of negative energy at him, knocking him off his feet and leaving him unconscious, "Right. That I'd like to see."

Jace's eyes widened. Lilianna grabbed his hand and led him around Tezzeret's body and down the alley. "You're just going to leave him there?"

"He knows where we're at so yes," Lilianna nodded.

Three years passed. Jace quickly learned to suppress his emotions. He also learned that the more power one had the respect they were given. In order to get out from under Tezzeret he'd need power. To that end he did whatever it took to gain power. Lilianna brought in a redhead that was about three years younger than him. Her bright orange eyes glared around hatefully. Jace could tell that she was just taking her anger at someone else out on them. Lililanna argued against Tezzeret's treatment of both of them whenever she caught it but wasn't around all that often. She spent a lot of her time out doing other things.

Tezzeret almost fully controlled both of them. Though the redhead remained defiant in everything, often leading to very painful punishment. Jace often heard her gut wrenching screams of pain and rage. He did his best to ignore them.

"What?" Tezzeret snarled.

Chandra lifted her chin to glare at him, "You'll never keep me down. You're weak."

"Weak?" Tezzeret hissed, "Respect is given to those with power around here."

She cried out as another agonizing jolt of pain shot through her body.

Jace hovered around the corner. She choked back the next scream. Jace's eyes widened. His enhanced hearing could hear the blood sliding back down her throat as she swallowed. His eyes narrowed. He didn't really know her but she was going to die if he didn't do something and he would inevitably take the blame for it. He appeared behind Tezzeret, "That's enough." Tezzeret found he couldn't move under the telepath's icy glare, "She's going to die and then the dragon's not going to be happy. You know she's important."

Chandra hissed angrily, "I've had enough of these dragons. I've had enough of these loops and I've had enough of you." Flames crawled along her skin. Jace didn't stop her but held Tezzeret still while he protected himself. The building erupted into flames. Lilianna returned a few days later to a charred Tezzeret and a livid fire mage.

"What happened?" Lilianna looked Chandra over worriedly. The redhead was covered in scars from all the times she had indured Tezzeret's harsh punishments. Lilianna saw the fresher healing wounds and the ash lined walls of the building and answered the question for herself, "Well, he deserved it for what he did."

Jace pretended not to hear the conversation. Something in Lilianna's tone bothered him. He knew Tezzeret was useful but to him his usefulness wasn't worth his arrogance.

Chandra growled and flopped into the chair next to him, "That was weird."

"This is Tezzeret's fault but the dragon doesn't treat traitors well," Jace glanced out the window in cold amusement.

"Like I give a damn," Chandra shrugged, "I'll do what I want."

"If you leave this dragon the other one will try to pick you up and he's a lot more restrictive of his minions," Jace explained. "Every last one of them is a stuck up white mage that forces their ideology on everyone else."

"Seriously?" Chandra hissed.

"I think the best thing to do is take our time," Jace suggested. In the few days between Tezzeret's demise and Lilianna's return he had convinced the redhead that she could trust him and he promised to help her with her own revenge against this particular organization, "If we can slip away without either dragon noticing then we'll be free to do as we wish. That however would definitely take a while."

A few days past before the dragon revived Tezzeret as he was apparently still needed.

"Jace," Bolas sneered down at the plotative telepath. The young man gazed up at him with empty cold blue eyes, "I have need of a certain artifact."

"Which one?" Jace asked passively.

Bolas had taken note of the apparent alliance between the telepath and the fire mage. Though he knew of the previous loops he had no memory of the events that took place during them, "It's on Zendikar. Take the redhead with you in case Ugin sends his pawns to stop you." Bolas waved his tail dismissively.

Lilianna wished them luck as the two left.

Jace smirked, "That wasn't hard."

"You influenced him?" Chandra asked.

Jace nodded, "Yep. It's been subtle but I've been doing it for quite some time now. If I can get him to make a fatal mistake then these loops will end and Bolas will be removed from the picture. With him gone Ugin shouldn't be hard to shove aside so that you and I can do what we like without anyone's interference."

"That's all fine and good but I'm getting bored," Chandra snapped.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Bolas has plenty of errands to keep things exciting and then when the last battle comes that can be when we turn against Bolas. If we help Ugin out in the last second then he'll be more inclined to leave us alone afterwards.

Chandra nodded, "Alright. And why'd he revive Tezzeret?"

"He's 'useful'. Bolas has plans for him still apparently," Jace shrugged.

"Right," Chandra rolled her eyes, "I think the dragon just enjoys watching the infighting."

"That too probably," Jace nodded.

When they arrived, Ugin's pawns were already guarding the artifact they were looking for. Jace cocked his head to the side, "A scroll?"

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Seriously? Some stupid piece of paper?"

"It's powerful," Jace glanced at her, "He has to be after it for a reason. If we tell him we lost it and keep it hidden somewhere-"

"We can use it ourselves!" Chandra grinned, "It's keyed to red mana so I'm the one that can use it."

Jace nodded, "Yeah."

"You can turn invisible and I'll get their attention so you can get it," Chandra nodded.

Jace turned invisible.

Chandra walked confidently right towards the scroll. She recognized the law mage, Gideon standing next to a blond woman with a bright holy aura. She lit up completely.

Gideon's eyes widened, "Chandra?!"

"Move," Chandra hissed. She smiled coldly at Gideon, "Sorry but the dragon wants that scroll."

"Chandra," the blond woman nodded to her, "Are you sure about this? By making this decision you are choosing a dark path."

"I said move," Chandra threw a fireball at them.

Jace slid up behind them and snatched the scroll before the fireball hit the ground. He teleported away.

Chandra bailed as the flames covered her retreat. She went back to the bushes she had come out of, "Did you get it?" Jace dropped from a tree and held it out in front of him, "Got it."

Chandra nodded, "What are we going to do with it? We can't keep it on us or he'll know and we'll be his next snack. But if we hide it on a plane Ugin will find it and we'll lose it."

Jace bit his lower lip. He hadn't exactly planned that part out, "Well...we could..."

Chandra put her hands on her hips, her eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully, "Can you create a pocket in space?"

"I might," Jace bit his lip, "I've never tried before."

"Do you think you can?" Chandra asked.

"I think so," Jace nodded. He concentrated for a few moments and the scroll disappeared from his hand, "There. Now we have to pick a fight so that he thinks we actually got our asses handed to us."

Chandra nodded. She circled around them and appeared behind them. Gideon whirled around, having seen her reflection in the blond woman's sword.

"You successfully took the scroll so what do you want?" Gideon asked warily.

"C'mon Gideon," Chandra put her hands on her hips as Jace appeared behind her, "we just wanted to test you out. You are after all our enemy. Why would we pass up the chance to test out your skills."

"Don't worry, your preccious scroll won't be damaged," Jace sneered, "It's safely hidden away from any damage that might be caused."

Elspeth quickly realized that the two mages they fought against were holding back. She stared at Jace, cocking her head to the side.

Gideon also noticed that the redhead he faced held back and allowed him to hit her.

Their opponents ended up losing the fight but Elspeth couldn't shake the feeling that that was what they wanted, "What are they up to?"

"We should report back," Gideon said, "The fact that they have the scroll."

Elspeth nodded, "Yeah. These two will pull themselves out of the dirt eventually."

"I don't understand how she could let them turn her into a monster like that," Gideon shook his head in confusion.

"When you're a part of a group like that you have to adopt their morals and values or you'll never survive," Elspeth explained. "I feel like those two are holding up a façade. There was something weird about that fight. It was like they wanted us to beat them."

"Chandra was definitely holding back," Gideon nodded.

Elspeth nodded, "But that also means that a few loops from now they might just be our allies."

"Of course I wouldn't know them to be any other way because I never remember the previous loops," Gideon shrugged.

"Trust me," Elspeth said sadly, "not knowing is much better."

 _That is what I said but I am truly glad that I do know. I have definitely been influenced by the events of each loop. There were many moments where I would've chosen a dark path if not for the support of these people that I can call a family. Our bonds go beyond memory. Though Jace and Chandra were not originally a part of that family and had difficulty adjusting each time they are no less a member of this family than Gideon or me. Their actions and choices in that specific loop set their path along the thin line between darkness and light. Their choice to try to pull out of the conflict and not fight for either side set their destinies on a different path. The telepath that was hunted and desired by both sides and the pyromancer that was labeled a monster beyond use proved that they were the strongest and brightest of us all. Without them we wouldn't be where we are and without them the loops wouldn't have even been necessary. Bolas' forces would've have been destroyed before the loop was put into place._

"Elspeth, I want the knowledge of the loops to be removed from this game. If they don't know it might make winning them over easier," Ugin explained.

Elspeth paused before nodding, reluctantly seeing the logic in the dragon's words.

"It will take a few loops for that knowledge to fade completely," Sorin warned. He began sharpening his long sword.

Elspeth nodded, "But as long as no one here ever metions it then it will fade with each repeat until they don't even know they're reliving their lives thousands of times."

Ugin grunted acknowledgement, "Don't mention anything to anyone. And Sorin continue working on turning the pyromancer to our side."

"That's not exactly what's ever going to happen," Sorin gave Ugin a hard look, "Treat her like a tool and she will rebel. That's why she's sided with Bolas. He doesn't care who gets caught in her flames. If we teach her to value others' lives as well as her own then she will fight for what she knows to be right in her own way." Sorin glanced at Elspeth, "The telepath will be much, much harder. He likes to pretend his problems don't exist which generally leads to him supressing his sense of empathy and becoming a sociopath."

"I have created a young esper to deal with that," Ugin said simply, "She will also know of the loops existence and will be given a sort of half spark that will allow her to planeswalk so she can go where she's needed."

"I'll have something small look after Jace," Elspeth promised.

"Like what?" Sorin asked skeptically.

"A moth," Elspeth gave him a somewhat challenging look, "I will be able to see everything that happens through the moth's eyes and nudge him in the right direction."

Ugin nodded, "We shouldn't have to worry about Gideon."

"We'll have to worry about him driving the pyromancer and the telepath away," Sorin muttered callously.

Elspeth shook her head, "Gideon should be fine. He listens to those he respects and trusts their judgment."

Sorin rolled his eyes, "Noticed that. He listens to you so I guess you're the only one here he respects."

Elspeth sighed. The vampire could be crabby at times, especially when he was stressed so she decided not to continue the argument. All of them were stressed. The burden of being the only ones that remember all the previous loops was getting to all of them. She looked at Ugin, "How did you create the esper? Who did you take from?"

"The telepath," Ugin said, "he was the only one powerful enough for his spark to be split without killing him that had the abilities I needed. I also took from his younger sister, the werewolf."

Elspeth gritted her teeth but remained silent. She turned and stalked out of the giant hall.

 _The deceit of it all disturbed me. I prefered to fight my battles fairly with no hidden schemes. I think that's when the dragon, Ugin, started to loose his footing on the slippery slope. Creating that esper was his first mistake. The girl knew what she was and knew the consequences of us succeeding in our goal. Even with that knowledge she helped us to the end because of the werewolf's spark within her. That kind of loyalty was the only thing that kept her with us. She never turned bitter. But in response to Ugin creating her, Bolas created another esper, again from Jace's spark. The telepath was weaker from that point on than he had ever been. He was still valued and desired but no longer necessary for victory. I guess that gave him some freedom but the price was drastic. If his spark were to complete itself again he would go insane. That was why whenever one of the espers died their power was instead stored in a sapphire and released back to it's original owner slowly._

Orriyon stared up at the sky. Elspeth watched her carefully, "Is something wrong, Orriyon?"

"No," Orriyon smiled warmly, "Nothing's wrong."

"Then what is it?" Vadanya asked.

"There comes a time when flames can heal and protect," Orriyon whispered, "and in the darkness let the phoenix be your guide."

Elspeth stared at her, "Flames heal and protect?"

"But fire's destructive," Vadanya cocked her head to the side. She knew better than to question her sister. She'd never been wrong before but Vadanya didn't understand how flames could heal and protect.

Elspeth nodded, "Very well." She followed Orriyon's gaze.

Jace stared up at the moon, hanging in the sky high above him. He was free. He could do what he wanted without Tezzeret breathing down his neck. He couldn't help but feel that something was missing. He knew his memories had been manipulated but that meant he'd always feel like something was missing and that bothered him. He felt like it was something important.

"You're certainly thinking hard." A amused voice cut through his wandering thoughts.

Jace turned in surprise. He saw red hair and blond bangs, colored silver in the light of the moon. The woman wore a black leather jumpsuit and black fingerless gloves. He cocked his head to the side. He had definitely seen her before. He remembered her name, Phoenix, but he didn't understand why she was suddenly talking to them like they knew each other, "What?"

She rolled her bright orange eyes, "Hi. What's up?"

Jace's eyes narrowed, "Nothing much. What do you want?"

"Intelligent conversation," she sighed.

Jace cocked his head to the side, "Why? Don't you hang out with someone capable of intelligent conversation?"

"Yeah, sure," her tone was laced in scathing sarcasm, "if I want to debate the explosion radius of an explosive with a half dragon that insists he knows better than me or I could debate the purpose of some bit of mana driven piece of technology with a techhead that definitely thinks she knows it all."

Jace tried not to laugh at how absolutely fed up she sounded, "That definitely sounds like a chore. But why would you want to talk to me?"

"I don't know," she got to her feet and started walking away, "Your questions are just as annoying as they are."

"Good to know," Jace nodded.

She rolled her eyes at him, "Don't take that too personally."

"Nope," Jace shook his head. _I've definitely learned that you don't mean something unless you're in somebody's face screaming it at them._ He sighed, "I have no idea what to do with all the free time I have now."

"Entertain yourself."

"I was talking to myself but thanks for the input," Jace muttered sarcastically.

"Anytime," she smirked, "I probably won't be seeing you around for a while. Now that you're out of what had been your hell hole I've finally got free time myself. See you later."

Jace watched her disappear from his sight. _I guess that'll be the friendliest farewell I'll ever get out of her._ "She's so annoying and confusing," he sighed and turned back to the moon.

 _And now a new story's being told. There were definitely times when I wanted to lay down and die. There were moments when I wanted to strangle each and every one of them for something they'd done. Trust me playing mother figure to this family is not for the faint of heart. Orriyon's prophecy gave me hope that Gideon's redheaded friend would be our ally. I was not disappointed and Orriyon was not wrong. And with Chandra or Phoenix, as that's the name that's been spreading lately, we have definite hope. I've definitely noticed a more mellow side to her but I'm also worried that our meddling in her story and in her life might have conditioned her to be afraid of her power. Only time will tell but if that is so it will take many, many more loops to undo that mistake._


End file.
